This Jinyiwei, who was carrying eight hundred miles of urgent documents, had been walking around the clock for a whole day. He casually ordered a few bites of pancakes on his horse while eating, drank a few sips of well water along the way, and basically did not dare to delay for a moment, speeding up the whole journey.
go ahead.
Before leaving, Gao Wencai, the leader of the Baihu family, stuffed himself with one hundred taels of silver and took another two hundred taels of silver to his family. You must know that his annual salary for a small flag was only fifteen taels of silver, so he suddenly had so much more.
He also knew a lot about the hard work, but as long as the hard work at this time can earn money, it is a good job.
Especially if it was just a matter of not sleeping and running all the way for a few days, Gao Qianhu immediately agreed as soon as he said it. The other brothers were jealous of him.
But money is money, and when will the documents have to be delivered? He ran out of the capital at night, and although he was discovered by the intruders, he escaped quickly because he had two horses and one person.
After a day and a night, he was already exhausted physically and mentally, and his eyes were getting duller. But in order to prevent himself from falling asleep, he cut his fingers with a knife. The pain from his fingertips really woke him up a lot.
, but my mind was still a little groggy, so I just put on some clothes and walked day and night regardless of the wind and rain.
Seeing several houses in the distance, he was a little lost, so he rode over and asked where they were. The other party told him that this was Luanzhou. He opened the map and looked at it, and found that it was still some distance away from Shanhaiguan, but since
After accepting an urgent job that was eight hundred miles away, I naturally couldn't neglect it, so I packed up, bowed, and continued on my way.
After about a few hours, I finally saw a large army encamped not far ahead, so I thought about going over to ask if the army of Xibo Wu Sangui had not been defeated. As I walked, I suddenly felt dizzy, and fell down as soon as it became dark in front of me.
No more consciousness.
"Report!"
"The intruders have invaded the outskirts of the capital, and the capital is under siege! Your Majesty ordered us to wait around the clock and work hard to suppress the thieves!" A messenger galloped into the camp, dismounted, rushed all the way to the camp, and knelt down to report.
At this moment, Wu Sangui, who was wearing heavy armor, and his bodyguards were discussing countermeasures in the camp. After driving away the messengers, he sighed, since the invaders captured Shanxi, His Majesty's documents urging them to enter Guan Qin came one after another.
, these days, I received almost every letter every three days, desperately trying to get them to return to Beijing quickly.
However, he still advanced slowly, not at full speed. Looking at the map, he knew that Ming's strength seemed to have come to an end, but at this moment, as a minister of Ming, he could not surrender no matter what.
But if it is true that the news from Tanma is true, most of Northern Zhili has fallen. How can I get to the capital with these 40,000 troops and 80,000 people? If I really get to the capital, will the capital have been breached by then?
?
Etc. must be taken into consideration, because the sudden light rain today forced the entire team to stop repairing, and he just received another urgent document, which made him a little irritable.
"His Majesty's documents come almost every few days, and we are not leaving? How can we move fast with so many soldiers and civilians?" Yuan Tong, a commander-in-chief beside him, complained. Although he was dissatisfied with Chongzhen in his heart, he also
I didn't want to express my attitude publicly, so when I saw another urgent document arrived, I couldn't help but say a few words.
"General, we have just built the camp. Some people in the army are already sick. If we continue to advance, I am afraid..." Another general, Li Yuan, ignored Yuan Tong and said to Wu Sangui.
"Yes, I think that with the three major battalions of the capital plus several other princely armies, it shouldn't be a problem even if we are later." Another general soldier came forward to agree.
Wu Sangui sighed again, turned away with a tired face, and then said: "You are all wrong. Your Majesty's capital may be in ruins overnight."
As soon as these words came out, everyone was shocked. No one expected that Uncle Ping Xibo would speculate like this. This is too negative. If this is true, then where did this document come from?
If this is the case, even if they arrive at the capital safely, what will happen? Should they go and collect the body for His Majesty? Wu Sangui's words suddenly caused silence in the big tent. No one spoke, but they were thinking about the next step in their hearts.
"I'm afraid this document was sent by Wang Yongji, the governor of Jiliao. He didn't send troops, but he ordered us to speed up the march." Wu Sangui couldn't help but sneered, his eyes full of disdain. Obviously he knew what Wang Yongji was thinking, and he was just stalling for time.
Then urge him to march, so that if something goes wrong in the future, he can shirk responsibility.
He, Wang Yongji, picked himself up cleanly, but when trouble came, he caused trouble on his head.
Besides, he couldn't control himself whether he would advance or not. The Shangfang Sword in his hand was not obtained for free. It was given to him by His Majesty who led hundreds of officials in Wuying Palace. Although his contribution that time was not fully deserved, but
It can be considered that the siege of the capital has been solved. It is precisely because His Majesty thinks so highly of me that when faced with Zu Dashou's surrender, I only did it perfunctorily.
The slow progress of the army was also forced. Eighty thousand people marched with the army, not 80,000 livestock. They were driven at will. Not to mention His Majesty, the governor of Jiliao, Wang Yongji, was also extremely annoying.
"General, shall we speed up the march, or maintain the current pace?" Li Yuan thought for a moment, but could not guess what Wu Sangui meant. First, he said that the capital was already in a hurry, and secondly, he said that His Majesty and Wang Yongji
They have been urging the army to advance, and they also have the intention of leaving, but you still have to ask the general whether to leave.
"Let's go, why don't you stay here? But remember, if there are patients, they must be treated, and if there is no food, they must be prepared on the spot. Don't rush. This is not because Shanhaiguan has tall walls to guard. Send more exploring horses, and it will definitely
We must clearly explore the enemy situation and terrain ahead!"
"yes"
The three commander-in-chiefs repeatedly said that since the general had already made up his plan, they would not say any more and just obey orders. And based on these words, it seemed that they had no intention of speeding up the march and just wanted to march normally.
Wu Sangui originally did not intend to speed up, but he heard that his father and favorite concubine Chen Yuanyuan were captured by the rebels, which gave him a headache. At the same time, he resented the vulnerability of the capital camp and his immaturity in the face of it.
The rebels collapsed at the first touch, and his father, whose morale was completely harmless, was captured directly.
What was even more pitiable was that his beauty Chen Yuanyuan, who was so kind and beautiful, was snatched away by those rough men! This hatred of seizing his wife made him beat his chest in anger from time to time during the nights of the past few days.
If he goes to the capital, he will definitely lead an army to kill the rebels and save his father and his beauty.
"Where are we now?"
Wu Sangui had been distracted by the court documents and the capture of his father's concubine in the past few days. He even forgot where the army was, so he had to ask the general soldier next to him.
"General, we have arrived at Luanzhou. It is still two hundred miles away from the capital. According to the current marching speed of the army, it will take about five days to reach the capital." Li Yuan made a few gestures on the map and said with his hand.
"Second order, the army will march at least fifty miles every day. Those sick and old people can walk behind the army, as long as they don't fall behind. Give them more horses so as not to drag down the army."
Wu Sangui walked back and forth in the camp, unwilling to abandon these 80,000 people after all. He would rather walk a little slower and try his best to let them keep up. However, at this moment, another messenger quickly entered the camp to report.
"Report! General, we found a man outside wearing a Feiyu suit with a long knife on his waist. He had an 800-mile expedited flag on his back. We have brought him back and he is outside."
The royal guards of the capital?
Wu Sangui turned around suddenly, fearing that this time it was not Wang Yongji's messenger, but a real person from the capital.
[Author’s digression]: It’s so tiring to type, my arms are so sore